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Prions

countere.com

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Re: Prions

#41

Post by [deleted] »

masklinn wrote: post #15
falcolas wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Globalization is a fairly new thing (on the 3.5B year timescale at least), allowing for the spread of any disease quickly. Whereas isolation and evolution has saved us in the past, it might not have the necessary time in the future (imagine if Covid had been even more deadly, for example).

Prions don't really spread on their own though, yes they are extremely hardy and can survive in soils but that doesn't do anything, if it did and isolation was the only solution we'd have thousands of prion-infested red zones where humans couldn't set foot. > imagine if Covid had been even more deadly, for example It'd have been taken more seriously, and it would have had a higher chance of burning itself out. Covid'…

[deleted]

Re: Prions

#42

Post by 813594 »

ipython wrote: post #29
incrudible wrote: post #16

I remember that in the 90s, when "mad cow disease" was dominating the headlines, it was predicted that there would be an exponential increase in cases, decades down the line. The same point about prions being virtually indestructible was being made, the same concerns about surgical equipment and blood donations were raised. Suffice it to say, the prion disaster did not materialize, so I'm skeptical about the same sto…

The concerns about blood donations continue to this day. A few years ago I went to a blood bank event not even thinking about vCJD and was turned away because I happened to live in Europe for more than 6 months in the early 90s. It is a bit unnerving to know you may or may not have a disease that there is no test for, and symptoms may not appear until decades later.

You might want to check again to see if you’re eligible now. They ended some of these restrictions on blood donation in the summer of 2020.

Re: Prions

#43

Post by djinnandtonic »

I wouldn't be too worried about this. I'm noticing chatter in the worst parts of the internet around COVID vaccines causing prion disease, it's likely just the latest disinfo by Q types.

This site hosts white-supremacist aligned articles (like this one supporting the dehumanizing NPC meme: https://www.countere.com/home/how-to-spot-an-npc) so I wouldn't be too worried about an article here about the "end of the world"

Re: Prions

#44

Post by xenadu02 »

incrudible wrote: post #16

I remember that in the 90s, when "mad cow disease" was dominating the headlines, it was predicted that there would be an exponential increase in cases, decades down the line. The same point about prions being virtually indestructible was being made, the same concerns about surgical equipment and blood donations were raised. Suffice it to say, the prion disaster did not materialize, so I'm skeptical about the same sto…

We have no idea if US Beef is infected. The USDA prohibits anyone from testing their cows and ended their spot-testing program (which was a joke).

So unlike Europe we never reckoned with the problem and don't know if it is currently spreading. For human exposure we would not yet be far enough along to know if the US Beef supply either is or was contaminated.

Personally I have basically stopped eating beef for this reason.

Re: Prions

#45

Post by incrudible »

ipython wrote: post #29
incrudible wrote: post #16

I remember that in the 90s, when "mad cow disease" was dominating the headlines, it was predicted that there would be an exponential increase in cases, decades down the line. The same point about prions being virtually indestructible was being made, the same concerns about surgical equipment and blood donations were raised. Suffice it to say, the prion disaster did not materialize, so I'm skeptical about the same sto…

The concerns about blood donations continue to this day. A few years ago I went to a blood bank event not even thinking about vCJD and was turned away because I happened to live in Europe for more than 6 months in the early 90s. It is a bit unnerving to know you may or may not have a disease that there is no test for, and symptoms may not appear until decades later.

...out of "an abundance of caution".

> It is a bit unnerving to know you may or may not have a disease that there is no test for, and symptoms may not appear until decades later.

That's true for many neurodegenerative diseases. If that's unnerving to you, better stay away from WebMD...

Re: Prions

#46

Post by Ericson2314 »

legitster wrote: post #33

Prions are pretty scary, but I think there are a lot of things this article gets wrong. - Prions are resistant to sterilization (since there is nothing to "kill"), but simple soap and water are still highly effective - Prions don't "last forever". They can live in buried carcasses for a few years, but some studies have shown that even our existing sewage treatment processes already break down a lot of prions. - While…

> Most importantly, viruses and bacteria innately "want" to spread. Prions do not have any biological mechanism for their own propagation - they are just an unfortunate mistake of nature. And this seems to be key why there has never been a massive prion outbreak.

I disagree here, and but it's not fatal to your argument. Anything that reliably reproduces "wants" to. Hell, I bet prions can evolve too on large enough time scales (heterogeneous induced refolding), so we can say they are alive. But sometimes the tortoise is too patient and the race ends before the hare tires.

Re: Prions

#47

Post by derekp7 »

beiller wrote: post #19
falcolas wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Globalization is a fairly new thing (on the 3.5B year timescale at least), allowing for the spread of any disease quickly. Whereas isolation and evolution has saved us in the past, it might not have the necessary time in the future (imagine if Covid had been even more deadly, for example).

If it was more deadly it would spread less quickly. That's how diseases work from my vague university memories of an epidemiology course. They are on a spectrum of deadly to contagious.

What actually causes this though? For example, take something like HIV that takes a long time to show symptoms, but have an airborne version of it. Do the things that make viruses airborne also keep them from having a long gestation period and also highly lethal?

Re: Prions

#48

Post by im3w1l »

masklinn wrote: post #15
falcolas wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Globalization is a fairly new thing (on the 3.5B year timescale at least), allowing for the spread of any disease quickly. Whereas isolation and evolution has saved us in the past, it might not have the necessary time in the future (imagine if Covid had been even more deadly, for example).

Prions don't really spread on their own though, yes they are extremely hardy and can survive in soils but that doesn't do anything, if it did and isolation was the only solution we'd have thousands of prion-infested red zones where humans couldn't set foot. > imagine if Covid had been even more deadly, for example It'd have been taken more seriously, and it would have had a higher chance of burning itself out. Covid'…

What I remember from middle school biology is that nutrients flow in a cycle. Organic matter in the soil will be composted and consumed by earth worms, funghi and microorganisms.

And to them, prions are just organic matter like any other.

Re: Prions

#49

Post by nefitty »

bb123 wrote: post #39
legitster wrote: post #33

Prions are pretty scary, but I think there are a lot of things this article gets wrong. - Prions are resistant to sterilization (since there is nothing to "kill"), but simple soap and water are still highly effective - Prions don't "last forever". They can live in buried carcasses for a few years, but some studies have shown that even our existing sewage treatment processes already break down a lot of prions. - While…

Does your second point suggest that we should avoid eating beef?

For people who are intensely worried about prions, it seems that eating less meat will decrease their chance of exposure.

Re: Prions

#50

Post by CountDrewku »

cogman10 wrote: post #11
dnautics wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment is spot on (I'm a former prion researcher).

What do you make of CWD? That one scares me more than current known human prion disease. Mainly because it seems to spread really easily. Other prion diseases seem to practically require cannibalism to spread.

CWD hasn't jumped to humans ever, correct?
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